


Hitherto Unknown Talents

by deacertes



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: M/M, Not Beta Read, POV Nile Freeman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26620468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deacertes/pseuds/deacertes
Summary: A new job reveals some hitherto unknown talents.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 18
Kudos: 179





	Hitherto Unknown Talents

Nile admits her heart sinks a little when she hears that their new job involves undercover work in a small, seedy nightclub. She hates bar work, but steels herself for the inevitable. 

Joe is still scrolling through the information sent to them by Copley when he makes an exclamation of delight. He swivels the Ipad around to show Nicky, who leans forward, reads it and groans.

“No, Joe.”

“But it’s perfect, mi amore. You will have access to all the back area, you will get to meet the staff.”

“Show me,” Andy orders.

As she reads, a smirk spreads across her face.

“Boss-” 

She shuts him down before he can properly voice a protest.

“Joe’s right. It’s perfect.”

Nicky buries his face in his folded arms. Joe moves closer and starts whispering what seems to be entreaties in that strange jumbled dialect of theirs.

Andy ruffles Nicky’s hair before going off to do an itinerary check. 

Nicky lifts his head from his arms to glare at her and snarl something at Joe. 

Andy just laughs, while Joe continues to speak softly to his beloved.

Nile thinks she can see a glint of amusement in his eyes; she is missing something here and grabs the Ipad to look for herself. Joe has brought the vacancies list up. The club is looking for weekend bar staff and a lounge singer.

“No,” she hears herself exclaim. “Seriously?”

“My love has the voice of an angel,” Joe states proudly.

Nicky rolls his eyes and somewhere from the back of the room Andy lets out a snort.

Nile eyes them all doubtfully. She has heard Nicky humming and singing softly to himself when he’s moving about the kitchen, he sounds like he is in tune, but going from that to professional nightclub singing is a pretty big leap. 

This, she thinks, is going to be a clusterfuck.

*************************

Nile perches on a bar stool as she sips her drink. The club has been filling up steadily throughout the evening and she can feel herself getting tense. There are too many variables. Too many bystanders. How is this supposed to work?

“Relax,” says Joe, close to the shell of her ear. “You look like you want to stab somebody. People will think you are not enjoying my company.”

Nile turns to meet his easy grin. His gaze is sharp, but everything else about him is loose and relaxed, and that eases something inside of her. 

“Nicky is up next?” she asks.

Joe nods, and she can’t help but smile. His happiness is infectious, and while he has remained the consummate professional though out the planning, it’s clear he is delighted that this job requires Nicky to be performing on stage. Nile isn’t sure what to make of it.

Someone makes an announcement and Nicky stalks onto the stage. 

If Joe’s body language implies unmitigated delight in the situation, Nicky’s definitely doesn’t.

He doesn’t appear to have made any effort to dress up for the occasion. He’s wearing the jeans with a rip in the thigh from an ill-timed jump and a broken femur. His charcoal jumper is so baggy it keeps slipping down to reveal his collar bones. His hair falls into his eyes and he shoves it back aggressively as he reaches for the microphone. Something silver glints in his ear.

“Is he wearing an ear cuff?” Nile asks, incredulously.

Joe’s grin widens and he places a hand over his heart as he performs an exaggerated sigh.

Nile puts her drink down so she can jab him in the ribs. He huffs out a laugh.

The music starts. Nile hasn’t felt this nervous since she was asked to perform a solo in her church choir. She had been eight. She wasn’t even on stage this time. But Nicky was her brother and she doesn’t want to see him crash and burn. 

She picks up her drink and downs the rest in one. Maybe she should order another?

Nicky wraps long fingers around the microphone, drags it towards him, and as the music cues him in he starts to sing.

What the fuck?

That is not the voice of an angel. That is the voice of a demon. An incubus. That is every dream and desperate fantasy she has had since puberty. She stares at Joe, but he only has eyes for Nicky. 

Nile can’t find it in herself to blame him. Even the general hubbub of the club has dropped as people pause their conversations to listen. She doesn’t even know what he’s singing about – as it’s in Italian – but that doesn’t matter to her or anybody else, apparently.

Nicky growls out the words, large hands cradling the mic while he angrily eye-fucks the audience.

They are spellbound.

She tells herself she shouldn’t be so shocked. She’s long since come to realise that in Nicky’s case, soft spoken doesn’t equate to mild. 

The first song is met with a round of applause. 

Joe sticks two fingers in his mouth and whistles shrilly enough to make Nile wince. 

She shakes her head at him and signals the barman for another drink. 

The backing band starts in with the next song, and Nicky demonstrates how to have sexual energy with a microphone.

**********************************

The job goes off without a hitch. Nile is just grateful they chose a vehicle with a separate cab as their getaway vehicle. She barely has time to shut the back doors on them before Joe starts showing Nicky his appreciation. 

She hops into the passenger seat beside Andy, who has the engine up and running already. It almost drowns out the noises coming from the back. Nile thinks wistfully of her music player.

Then she wonders how hard it will be to persuade Copley to send her Nicky’s set before he wipes it, so she can add it to her playlist.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspiration for this drabble came from watching youtube videos of Luca singing with Claudio Santamaria, and also the video of Jagermasterz Feat. Luca Marinelli - Ogni Giorno Official Video


End file.
